5 Lessons In 50 Days On The Road

We have been on the road for over 50 days, and so much has changed since the day we left London. Probably you are thinking I don't qualify to be giving you life lessons after 2 seconds on the road, and yet I believe that every stage of a journey has the potential to open up new discoveries. These last 50 days have felt like years, and even though I prepared myself for 6 months before taking the plunge and officially becoming a digital nomad, I couldn't imagine half of the things I know right now.

1. Travelling Is Not The Point

You head me: Travelling is not the point! Yes we are travelling the world, and yes we intend to continue for a very long time, but the act of travelling is not the purpose of what we are doing and it's not what is driving us. We have been to 12 countries and 15 cities but you can have as much or as little experiences by staying in one country the whole time. What I didn't know before I left to embark on this adventure is that sometimes the best decision is to stay where you are and enjoy what you are doing in that moment. Crossing off another country on the list cannot be the reason why you are travelling, you need to savour the pockets of happiness you find along the way and treasure what you are feeling right in that moment, without fearing or obsessing about collecting as many "points" as you can. Quality not quantity.

2. Plans Are Useless

I kind of knew this one before I left because this applies to various aspects of everyone's life, but maybe more so when you are travelling indefinitely. I fooled myself that since we are not using planes we needed more preparation than others, because if I want to reach a place I cannot simply hop on and fly away, I have to cross maybe 3+ countries and multiple means of land transportation to get there. However I failed to realise that this way I have even more freedom than I anticipated because the options are endless. Right now I can take any bus going in any direction and explore a neighbour country as long as I want, or I can stay right where I am. I can go to the city, stay at home, work in a coffee shop, take a day off, go to the countryside and wonder in the forest. So what is the point of planning? Any day at any given time I can stumble upon infinite combinations of events which can totally reshape my immediate future. So just let go of any illusion of "control" over your future and let yourself be transported by the current whatever the future has in store.

3. Internet Is A Luxury

This is definitely a lesson I learned the hard way, and being a Digital Nomad means that wherever you are you require to be digitally connected. And that is not always as easy as it may seem. I quickly realised that even though every place in Europe has WiFi, not all WiFi is equal and some will definitely not allow you to work. So my new motto is: "Don't do tomorrow what you can do now with this great internet connection, cause tomorrow you might now have it!". Many times I did a bit of work and then gave myself the rest of the day off thinking I didn't have much left and I could finish it in the nest location, only to find that the next location has crap WiFi. Learn from my mistakes and prep all the work you can when you have the means.

4. Home Is Everywhere

I have been in 15 different cities in the last 50 days and yet I have always (almost) felt at home. Why? Because I was happy, and I think it has already been said in all kinds of packages that home is where you feel happy. It blew my mind that a country which I never even spared a thought about could become so dear to me because of the incredible times I had while living there, and others that are so high in everyone's bucket list could mean absolutely nothing to me. If you feel like camping in a spot for a while then do so, because you don't know what is behind the corner and you are not going to live that experience ever again, so use it up to it's full potential and move on when you feel it's time. Follow your internal compass and be where your heart longs to be, that way you will always feel at home and the world will become your oyster!

5. Learn To Let Go

This is something you have to learn pretty early on into your nomadic life, which now revolves around change and freedom. Everything can be drastically different in matters of seconds: a person you really like can move on, the weather tomorrow could be awful, the person who was supposed to host you can change plans, your new hostel roommates can be annoying, etc. In other words NOTHING LASTS, but seriously nothing! Every certainty you have doesn't apply anymore, and it won't matter in few hours. Food can be unbearable from one supermarket to another, people can be drastically different, as well as accommodation, comfort, stress, weather, emotions, not to mention language, customs, environment, landscapes. Whatever is heaven now can be hell in few minutes, and vice versa. And that is the beauty of living this way, it makes every moment so precious, every encounter a surprise, and every day an adventure. But when the moment is gone you can't dwell and grief what you have just "lost" because otherwise you will be constantly mourning. Instead dive deep into every chance you have to experience joy and appreciate it for it's non-lasting nature.